Former SMU assistant Joe Tumpkin was just settling into his new role as linebacker's coach at the University of Central Florida when his former boss -- and recently hired Pitt defensive coordinator -- Phil Bennett called him to gauge his interest in becoming Pitt's linebacker's coach.

Bennett, who was most recently the head coach at SMU and worked with Tumpkin the past three seasons, didn't have to ask him twice. Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt announced Tumpkin as the new linebacker's coach at Pitt yesterday.

"I had been hired at Central Florida on Jan. 14 and was getting started, but right after signing day I got a call from coach Bennett," Tumpkin said. "I wanted to at least look at the opportunity and the more I looked at it, I felt like based on my past experience with coach Bennett -- I learned a lot of football from him and we get along tremendously -- and what I know about Dave Wannstedt it made it [a job] I couldn't turn down.

"For a young coach, it is really something special to be able to be around and work for some of the great defensive minds in football, like coach Bennett and coach Wannstedt, and I am excited about what I can learn from them for my future and my career."

Tumpkin will fill the spot left vacant by Charlie Partridge, who resigned earlier this month and joined the staff at Wisconsin. Partridge was the linebacker's coach but he also coordinated special teams. While Tumpkin will not serve as the special team's coordinator, he will pick up some of those responsibilities as well.

Tumpkin is a native of Miami and has deep ties there. He said yesterday that (Miami) most likely will be his primary recruiting area. That would make sense because it was Partridge's primary area as well.

In hiring Tumpkin, Wannstedt finally has filled his staff as he has had to replace five assistant coaches and two graduate assistants since the end of the season. He is the second African-American coach to be hired among the five new assistants.

Tumpkin has spent the past three seasons coaching linebackers for SMU and has had stints in various roles at Sam Houston State, Lakeland College and Southern Illinois along with several other stops as a graduate assistant. He played football at Michigan Tech and graduated in 1994.

NOTES -- Pitt added the University of New Hampshire, a Division I-AA school, to its football schedule in 2010. New Hampshire athletic director Marty Scarano told the New Hampshire Union Leader that the school will be paid $300,000 to visit Heinz Field that year. That gives Pitt three non-conference games that year. The Panthers already are scheduled to play host to Miami and will visit Notre Dame. Pitt still needs to fill two non-conference games for that season.